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Battling UK supermodel Naomi Campell is in trouble again for allegedly assaulting a member of her staff with an electronic device. Back in 2005, press reports suggested she'd battered one of her personal assistants with a BlackBerry during a jaunt to Rio de Janeiro - something the multi-talented Ms Campbell strongly denied.

This time around, the object in question is a mobile phone. Campbell yesterday appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court after being charged with second degree assault on her housekeeper who later required four stitches to her head "after being hit by a mobile phone following a row", as a NYPD spokesman explained to the BBC.

The rumpus allegedly kicked off as Campbell was "dressing to get ready for an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey TV show". She couldn't find her jeans and accused housekeeper Ana Scolavino of stealing her clothes. District attorney Elina Kreditor told the court: "As she [Scolavino] was walking downstairs the defendant threw a cell phone at her head."

Campbell was not required to post bail or surrender her passport, and will appear in court again in June on a felony rap carrying a maximum one year jail sentence.

Her agent denied the assault allegations, explaining: "We believe this is a case of retaliation because Naomi had fired her housekeeper earlier this morning. We are confident the courts will see it the same way."

As for the make and model of the phone in question, no details are forthcoming. We find it hard to believe that the latest slimline mobile telecoms gadgets could cause such extensive head trauma, even when projected with considerable force. It seems likely, then, that an old-school cellphone might be responsible for the alleged injury - most probably one of those monsters with an external battery the size of a suitcase and a handset like a house brick. ®